Thursday, January 13, 2011
Pseudo-Sincerity
In my (admittedly large) naivete, I always believed that the Vietnam protestors were people who were all so impassioned, so informed, and so convinced that the war was inhumane that they went to extremes to let the public know that they should "give peace a chance." However, after this morning's lecture and the corresponding readings, I realize that they were just as lost as most of us; at least, many of them were. I wonder how many of those people were genuine supporters of the war, and how many were there because it was easy to dress in paisley, throw up a peace sign, and stand up for something, anything. Were their actions really in response to the plight of the Vietnamese, or was it (as I am now inclined to think) a way to flaunt a giant middle-finger to the Man? I wonder how much of the hippie movement was a bandwagon response, the "hip" thing to do, and how much of it was genuine criticism of the Vietnam War.
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I think that this is such a good observaation. While I'm sure that there was sincerity among certain individuals who truly cared about the issues at hand, much of it could have been considered a mob movement. When you have world shattering events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the War in Vietnam, you undoubtedly attract a sense of rebellion in the sense that everything that was once held golden was essentially being thrown to hell. I mean, segregation? America not winning a war nor clearly having a concrete purpose in it? The counterculture could be perceived as a reaction to all of the chaos more than people truly desiring to work with these issues.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-war protestors were only a small percentage of Americans who were extremely outspoken about the war. And while I think that many of them probably just hopped on the bandwagon, I think that most of them were truly against the war. Unlike the other wars of the 20th century, there was no clear-cut reason as to why America had been involved. I think that many Americans were confused as to what we were really doing in Vietnam, fueled by the lies of America’s leaders. And among those who were confused, a small percentage of them asked why were really there, and when they realized there was no real legitimate answer, began to protest instead. I think it has only been with hindsight that Americans have realized the tragedy of Vietnam. I think from a modern standpoint, we believe the Vietnam War to be more unpopular than it was, perhaps as a way of consoling our guilt, convincing ourselves that we knew it was wrong but there was not much we could do about it. That our government had lied to us and we unknowingly went along with it. And while this may be partially true, as the war escalated many of its details were made known to the American public. But even as the atrocities of war were being made known, there was still a substantial part of the American public that supported of American involvement in Vietnam. And I think it is only from this modern standpoint, that we can acknowledge Vietnam for what it really was. However, I’m not entirely sure that we have taken away as much from this war as we claim we have. Furthermore, I’m not entirely sure that we have learned all the lessons this war has to offer to avoid ever repeating its mistakes.
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